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Life Changers 10/19/14

October 18, 2014

As a contributor to the Sojourner’s blog, I felt so proud to see people from that community show solidarity in Ferguson on #MoralMonday, demanding justice at the cost of arrest.

Lisa Sharon Harper says in this piece for CNN, Why I got Arrested in Ferguson:

We read the names of unarmed black men who died at the hands of police, security guards or vigilantes last year. We stood face to face with officers sworn to uphold injustice.

We called them to repent for their complicity in the deaths of Michael Brown and Vonderrit Myers and the protection of police assailants encased in privilege and process.

Shane Claiborne says it best:

Amen.

Michael and Lisa Gungor’s second daughter has Down Syndrome, and they say Lucie is Light. The whole piece is a stunning recounting of their experience from birth to diagnosis to now, but I especially loved reading about how it has impacted their marriage:

I had never realized what a beautiful experience it could be to share in suffering. There we were, totally broken, scared for the future, thrust into an unknown world. And there was a great force of love right there, like a miracle, showing us that this is what family is about. This is what friendship is about – support when you crumble, breath when your lungs fail, believing in you when you don’t, seeing you at your worst and not only remaining in the room, but leaning in.  The scary kind of close.

Zack Hunt tells us about The Single Greatest Challenge to Christianity:

Because when we make the gospel merely about a momentary intellectual decision and agreement to a list of beliefs, while treating the evil of this world as a secondary issue, we make the gospel irrelevant. Which is why it should come as no surprise to see a socially conscious generation fleeing a church more interested in being right than addressing the immense suffering right outside its doorstep.

Kelly Nikondeha at SheLoves urges us to listen, to shema, to Hear, O Israel:

What if our listening unlocked compassion and companionship?

Bronwyn Lea gets into trouble with her pot:

Aware of theological threats on every side, we parse our words carefully. Some of Christendom’s deepest divides have been chiseled by disagreements over words. Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Christendom parted ways over precise words, because of course it wasn’t just about the words – but rather that the particular words represented very nuanced (and divergent) theological views. Church history is littered with word-wars.

Josina Guess at Red Letter Christians talks about Parenting On Our Knees:

Despite all the conferences, books and trainings out there, faith and a relationship with Jesus are gifts that can be nurtured, but they cannot be formulaically reproduced.

As much as I long for every knee to bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, I know this cannot be forced–even upon our children.

Micah Murray, What Nobody Told Me About Jesus:

Why else are so many evangelicals of my generation saying “I thought Christianity was about getting into heaven, getting saved, getting good — No one ever told me that Christianity was about staying in love”?

When so many evangelicals are having to rediscover the good news of Jesus as if for the first time after decades in the Church, how can we not say that evangelicalism as a whole has failed to preach the whole Gospel?

What changed your life this week? Please share your favorite reads in the comment section.